Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Ascension (B), May 17 & 18, 2015 “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) Readings: Acts 1:1–11; Psalm 47: 2–9; Ephesians 1:7–13; Mark 16:15–20 From a Stearns County Jail Cell I remember getting a 3 AM phone call a year or so ago, letting me know that a young guy from my floor at Saint John’s was in jail; he had gone to a dance, drank way too much vodka, was not old enough to drink to start with, took a wild swing at a police officer, was subdued, arrested and put in a squad car; he did not go peacefully. He slept it off in a Stearns County jail cell, and his father went to pick him up later in the day and brought him back to campus. I have rarely known a young man to be so filled with remorse and repentance. I saw him in the hallway soon after his arrival, raised my hand in greeting, and before I could say or ask anything, he came quickly toward me and embraced me in silence, but he couldn’t look me in the eyes. Later, he came to my office to chat, his head still bowed down in grief and shame, his eyes glistening with tears. I asked what his dad had said on the drive back from jail to campus. “Oh,” he said, “it was so awful.” “Awful?” I asked. “The worst,” he said; continuing, “I wish that he had hollered and berated me, gotten angry or even called me names.” “What did he say?” I asked. “He told me that he was disappointed in me.” What a wonderful dad; what excellent parenting. I sent that dad a piece of fan mail later that day, congratulating him for an excellent job in raising up a son to have so finely tuned a conscience. It often seems to me that we can be pleasant enough when everything is going our way, but to be pleasant when you are suffering the consequences of being deeply in trouble is an especially great grace; a sign, I think, of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. My young friend knew that he was standing at a crossroads, and his next actions and his attitude would reveal a lot about him, about his character, and about the kind of future that he would make for himself. Perhaps something somewhat similar was going on with the Apostles in those days between the Resurrection and Ascension of the Lord; how the Apostles reacted, how they behaved, how they looked toward the future would determine their fate, their reward, and the future of the emerging Church. 2 We can appreciate that they must have been very confused. Jesus walked and worked among them and with them for three years, was betrayed, arrested, condemned, suffered, died, was buried, and rose from the dead, appearing after the resurrection not just to anyone, certainly not to those who had condemned or killed him, but only to his faithful followers. Now, after forty days, they wondered what would happen next. They did not know the Pentecost event, the coming of the Spirit, was just ten days away. They had not yet come to know that in living their lives as faithful disciples of Jesus they would see, consider and finally understand how the Jesus event informed their task as the developing church. In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke reports about the forty days after the resurrection of Jesus: “He presented himself alive to them / by many proofs after he had suffered, / appearing to them during forty days / and speaking about the kingdom of God.” Jesus asked the Apostles “not to depart from Jerusalem, / but to wait for / ‘the promise of the Father / about which you have heard me speak; / for John baptized with water, / but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’” 3 They seem a little confused in the question they ask Jesus just before he ascends out of their sight, returning to the Father: “When they had gathered together they asked him, / ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’” Jesus was not about restoring monarchies or kingdoms. He came to announce and inaugurate the universal Kingdom, the Reign of God: “an eternal and universal kingdom, a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace” (Preface: Christ, King of the Universe). How should we welcome such a King and such a vision? The psalmist models the attitude that should be ours in welcoming the Lord: “All you peoples, clap your hands, / shout to God with cries of gladness, / For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome, / is the great king over all the earth.” With the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles then and we today seek to advance God’s Reign until the day we see Christ face to face. The task is to see, consider and finally understand how the Jesus event informs our task as church. We are called to fashion a culture in which the examples of Mother Teresa and Dorothy Day will prompt us all to work to see that no one, no group, is marginalized, pushed to the 4 edges. In seeking the Reign of God, we can never deny the dignity of any human person, or any group of people. To violate human dignity is a great sin against the Gospel; violations of human dignity are repugnant to God. The task of the church in every age is to lead us to sanctity; we tread the path of sanctity when we are faithful in prayer and in service. As we pray and serve, we may well feel a little confused about the Ascension. We often tend to misunderstand or overlook this Easter event. When the scriptures speak of Jesus “going up” to heaven, it is not going up as a rocket ship goes up. The Ascension is about the enthronement of Christ as Lord. The Gospel of Mark describe Jesus as “taken up into heaven” where he “took his seat at the right hand of God.” Where he has gone, we hope to follow. The psalmist gives us the vision: “God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy; / the LORD, amid trumpet blasts. / Sing praise to God, sing praise; /sing praise to our king, sing praise.” How do we do follow Jesus to eternity? Maybe the 18th century composer Johan Sebastian Bach has an answer for us. Bach wrote more than a thousand pieces of music and is considered by many to be the greatest composer ever. When asked about writing music, he said, 5 “Music’s only purpose should be the glory of God and the re-creation of the human spirit.” Wow. There was a man with a mission: sanctification and service. Would it be possible to find a better life, or a more noble purpose, than to pursue God by acting in justice and in charity toward all of God’s other creatures? Today, gathered at book and table, let us ask in prayer to be the people who emphasize sanctification and service. May God be praised in our every act, by all we do, by who we are, and by who we hope to become. Take a listen: Yo-Yo Ma plays the prelude from Bach´s Cello Suite No. 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=28&v=dZn_VBgkPNY 6